Special Feature Deep-Sea Creature

In the wild, researchers have found that most wolf packs are simply families, led by a breeding pair, and bloody duels for supremacy are rare.

Closest match: Cannabis sativa cultivar ERBxHO40_23 chromosome 3

ratatouille spinoff in the style of the pitt where the entire season is one really long busy shift at la ratatouille after their recent expansion (maybe they bought the old gusteau building?). i would have a side plot where emile is brought on as an apprentice chef (he controls that “WITH THIS THUMB” cook from the first movie who walked off in the first movie and didn’t want to be a cook anymore but he got hit by a car and is brain dead so emile has gotten used to puppeteering his body to live out his entire life for him, makes love to his wife, raises his children, eats his baguettes, etcetera) but remy catches him stealing food again and kicks him out until season 2. colette gets knocked out by ego’s crazy uncle. several mater cameos

sad true-to-life slow drama revealing that mater has been in car hospice for years and that every mater’s tall tale was nothing more than morphine-fueled delusions he tells lightning on zoom when they talk every day to keep his spirits up. i would have mater come through with an unexpected recovery and live but lightning would get hit by a (larger) car in a failed carjacking (which in this context is just a regular mugging) and die in the penultimate episode so you still get an unexpected waterworks ending 

the incredibles, mr. incredible and dash and their new friend mater go on boys trip a la a goofy movie, dash learns and sometimes he needs to take the slow path, it’s worth it to stop and smell the flowers once in a while (or the oil filters, as mater adds! haha). there shouldn’t be a single scene in this show that doesn’t have mater in it

bug’s life 1 ½, we reveal that mater was watching the garden’s happening all along and directed it subtly from above like a god to send good fortune off the bugs without them ever knowing about it. the bird that ate hopper at the end was actually trained by mater and obeys his every command. the reason mater chooses not to reveal himself directly to the bugs is because he does not want to scare them into believing him, he wants them to worship him as a matter of free will, it’s very important to him

walle prequel series, mater was the one who destroyed the earth (and he invented walle and all the robots from lightyear too)

lightyear 1 ½ (mater was zurg too)

mater reacting every standup routine in richard pryor’s career, word for word

seven hours of a large rotating brown sphere overlaid on a static background. you occasionally hear a distorted audioclip of an elderly spanish woman (a former mexican supreme court judge) whispering “el mate es el horror ineludible” and similar comments.

One of the reasons I have occasional trouble with the concept of agency is that I have spent a lot of time around people who are mad. Crazy. As in, mentally ill. People recovering from major trauma or psychosis; people whose choices are limited because their brains are. I was severely depressed and anxious to the point of being non-functional from the age of fourteen to about seventeen, and recovered very slowly from seventeen to about twenty-two. The experience of being mentally ill enough, young enough, for long enough, means that in any given situation I tend to notice people who are Going Thru It. 

I am finally coming to terms with being a more-or-less mentally well adult. It feels great, thank you for asking. The threat of backsliding hangs over my head like the Sword of Damocles, making every choice feel significant. But overall I can function well enough to consider my own agency in most situations, and have accumulated enough time being normal that I feel like I can look forward to a decently normal life. 

Here is the no-bullshit advice I would give people who were in my situation, who are trying to get better. This assumes they’re functioning in the aftermath of acute mental illness, but probably pretty badly. 

Community is gonna save you

Communities — school groups, work groups, groups for a cause — are great because:

 there are people there (humans are social animals, and we heal socially),

 they have resources you can use, and

 they are places where you can contribute, which takes you out of your own head and makes you useful.

You’re probably worried about embarrassing yourself. But if a community is large enough you might not even need to make specific friends or have specific duties, which can be hard. You can just kind of show up and be ambiently part of things. Do it for the novelty, if nothing else.

Your obligations better give back to you

If it’s not materially or socially paying you enough relative to the amount of work you’re doing, consider letting it go. This requires being honest with yourself, which is super hard. But you need support, and if you don’t audit what is supportive you’re going to run from one thing to another without warning people and maybe without knowing why you’re doing it, which is worse.

You’re ill, act like it

I don’t need you to tell you to brush your teeth and exercise and take your medicine. But do those things. If you’ve got a therapist, they will have suggestions for basic self-care. Those are the suggestions from your therapist you absolutely should not ignore, and the hardest ones to implement.

Also, if you don’t have separation from the thing that is making you ill, get it. Then expect a post-separation collapse phase as your body realizes exactly how terrible it was. 

For growth, adjust your expectations

Some people want to do and be too much when they’re mentally ill -- found an organization, run a marathon, etc. They should do less. Some people want to do and be less -- sit in bed and watch Dancing with the Stars. They should do more, within reason. 

Also: some days getting out of bed feels like a tremendous achievement. It is. If you don't let yourself like yourself at least a little bit, getting better will be very hard.

Stay away from politics/substances:

They can and will hijack you. Not the time.

Seriously regard very large benevolent forces 

It doesn’t have to be God. It could be, if that’s your jam. But take a serious look at every process in the world that is going right, that is for your benefit, that is designed to help you. The global postal service. Photosynthesis. Public libraries. Place them in your mind’s eye and seriously regard them as deeply and as often as possible. Make them real to yourself. 

This is not your identity  

Depending on what kind of mentally ill you are and what you know about it, it might be tempting to make it a complete part of your identity. Do not do this. I know this is so, so hard, because you have spent every ounce of time fighting it the way that softball players spend most of their time playing softball. But your brain is plastic, and wellness is possible. The “sick role” limits your responsibilities in ways that can be self-fulfilling. It also forecloses growth. 

When I was seriously investigating the idea of being a theatre academic I met a woman who said she was a “Mad” dramaturg. Every part of me flinched away at this. I later learned that the label is one deployed in case practitioners need someone with lived experience of being mentally ill. Okay, fair enough. But whatever is happening, madness is a transient state for many people. New treatments are being developed all the time. 

Find something else to make your identity. Literally anything else. You are good at board games. You like music. Start there.

Remember that Scott Alexander post about being a burden: